Fortna acquired Hamburg, Germany-based Pierau Unternehmensberatung GmbH—known as Pierau Planung—for an undisclosed sum and said its management team would join Fortna following the transaction and continue serving its European region.

That prediction has now come to pass, and according to Fortna it will pay off through leveraging Pierau Planung's industry expertise, client base, and team of supply chain and logistics experts. Pierau Planung provides management consulting services to supply chain clients in a variety of end-markets, including: e-commerce, retail, food & beverage, and industrial distribution.

"Under a new flag, Pierau Planung's team, location and project business will be retained with typical Hanseatic consistency," the German company said in a release, referring to the Hanseatic League, a trading alliance in northern Europe that spanned from the 13th to the 17th centuries. "However, the cooperation between the two companies offers impressive potential: for joint further development and for existing and new customers."

The deal marks the latest move by Fortna in a busy January so far. Earlier this month, the firm hired a new chief financial officer to replace the retiring Barry Malamud. In his place, Matthew S. Harrison will draw on his experience in the finance sector to manage Fortna's scope of domestic and global financial operations and become a member of Fortna's senior executive team responsible for driving sustainable, strategic revenue and profit growth, the company said.

We could all use some positive news and thankfully we have some for you: Many signs are showing that the freight markets are starting to recover.
As we mentioned last week, April was one of the worst months for freight activity in over 26 years. But in looking at the data for May, we are starting to see a much...